New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-01-01
MD poWcRs AND THE PARK BOARD'

.s AZ INSIDE VIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT
-" AND ITS MANAGEMENT
parl, Commissioner Powers was 500" nv ~
somc one evening this week ana IN reply " SUI
oucsttons concerning the statements mado oS ITO
so,,or,- commissioners before the Board OF Appor
tonment said: 10. rorro
~ am not fully informed as to ~haI repic-
,ontations have been made by the farK Do"'"
ANS moi there and was not asked TO DC U'eIo' "'
,ol,coques Ircfer to administer Inc ahaiiS VI 'io
Deuartment. so far as they can, WITHOUT consult
tnc me. They have even caiieu h'oc'ino' '
roitvinc me- which Is plainly illegal ana at ,ileSe
,,,oc,lar meetings important business has Dceh
,ransoc,cd In one case, for example, the vaiid-
~, If the ctys action relating to the opening OF
.i streets west of Riverdale-avc. depends
mon the action OF tie Park Board as it appears
IN tho minutes II It can be shown, rs IL can DC,
,,,r Inc meeting held in known dchahce oi
,ayv the whole transaction may be judged ihNaiu
~. tho courts TO the great detrimcnt OF puDnc anu
private interests ~ n.,..S
.Tbcse minutes by the way" added MIR. Powers
ur,,, q smile sometimes make record OF proceed
lngs that failed to proceed AT q recent mecViii'
q resolution of alteration and thanksgiving was or
fered to Mr. Reelxman for his benign rule as prcs
bcnt OF course Mr.. Boeman couldn't adore him.
self and refused. don't see how Mr Crin1nihs
md Mr. Borden could have counted themselves
clear majority out of four but the resolution aIr
pears on the minutes as adopted oil the same bu'
Two is a maority when the Board consists of three
and they probably assume that am counted out.
MS I practically am in the workin, Of the new by
laws they have framed The Board is organized
YOU know. Everything Is done by the president
as its head or as acting for some committee, and
om not on single committee. Formerly we each
had an equal share Of the patronage Now the
president appoints and have no part nor lot in
the matter"
But" suggested the reporter, "the commits
sioners claim that there is no longer any patron
age The service is recruited by competitive eN-
animation; promotion is made for merit only. ana
It is this exclusion Of personal politics that insuroS
the present efficiency OF the Park force"
MIR Powers seemed 10 consider this joke, for
ne smiled out loud and continued "Well promo
ton seems to be pretty easy for friends and ten
ants of Mr. Crimmins, who is the boss OF The
BOARD Mr.. Beellman has the salary. which Is
matter of some Importance to him, besties other
favors from Mr. Crimmins who is his client, an !
in return Mr. Crimmins has his way. which is Il
matter of good deal Of Importance to him, al
though of course his way in broad sense
is Manor Grace's way. Mr. Borden, too, is friend
of Graces to whom he owes his appoint ment
The fact is that there is other city department
which is governed so exclusively by pefs nal Ia
yoritism. Nor is the Park force except ionally
efficient | believe that the complaints against
the Park police are many times more numerous
than the complaints AGAINST the entire mctropOlI-
tan Toice force believe too, that it would pay
the city TO build a hotel and support a considerable
fraction of the labOrers now quartered on thc De
partment, and then put few live men in their
places 90 do the work.
"Now understand" added Mr.. Powers, 81 fni
no fault with these gentlemen for looking out for
theiI friends nor am L complaining OF bad treat
ment and begging for 0athy. / can take care
of myself, and although I'm organized oil the
committees. | can manage to be Of some use to the
city. Il don't often advertise what | do and /
have no one 30 60 about amcng the employees Of
the Department and levy upon them for a tcsi-
monia as Mr. Crimmins Is now doing for Mr..
Beekman But with the help Of The TRIBUNE
and other papers one man is able to put stop TO
abuses now and then. AT one time there was n
good deal of dumpiny going on at Riverside at
the northwest corner Of the Park and elsewhere
There q great cry about malaria. which meant
that some wanted to fiji up the lakes with dilt
that could be conveniently disposed Of in these
basins Ii was considered improper by Mr.. Grim
MINIS when called attention to the filthy material
lhat was being carted from cellar which he was
digging near by AMI dumped into the lake at Sew
enty-ninth-st 1t appeared also that an officer
was stationed on the sidewalk to prevent other
teams from carting good earth to the same place.
There is no need to mention the protest OF other
contractors who claimed that they should have
the same privileges Mr.. Crrnmins in dcpositln@
their waste in the hollow at the northwest an lc
OF the Park or to allude to other matters Of this
kind. But the dumping is stopped. which Is a
point gained"
Tie reporter asked why Mr. Beekman hal not
resigned to allow Mayor Grace to name bis success
sor for the uncxpired term II he was so loyal TO
that gen lcman in all his acts
Mr. Powers IcIled slyly that he knew little
about pCltics 1t may be he said THAT the
Mayor belle, cd that Mr.. Beekman would resign
and it is alleged that he promised Mr. Hewitt TO
hold over In order to give him the AZ poiDtmcnt
But of course Mr. Bcekmsn could not have mDic
coniictin. promises DO both Mayors. III sc little
misun1erstan lings will arise but in this case ID
cannot result in any hard feeling because every
body knows that the leaders OF the County Dc
nocracy nothing for Offices: